Ready to roll

Band hopes to take off with new album

Band hopes to take off with new album

January 29, 2009|By ANDREW S. HUGHES Tribune Staff Writer

The symbolism on the cover of Half-Pint JonesÂ? second album couldnÂ?t be clearer.

Seated among other travelers, the five band members wait for the next train to pull into the South Shore railroadÂ?s terminal at the South Bend Regional Airport. The back cover of Â?Single FileÂ? features an artsy photo of the quintet in the airportÂ?s main terminal.

Taken together, these and the two inside photos communicate one image: These guys are ready to take off with their music and band.

Â?We just want more people to understand that weÂ?re really trying to make that leap from semi-professional to professional,Â? drummer Steve Â?KrojoÂ? Krojniewski says about the artworkÂ?s concept and the albumÂ?s structure. Â?We do want to take it to the next location.Â?

Formed in 2006, the South Bend-based band plays a sophisticated and complex blend of funk, R&B, rock, reggae and Latin music, all of it grounded in a multi-faceted jazz foundation that puts saxophonist Chris Olivier and trumpeter Mark Gamble out front alongside guitarist Justin Ross as the bandÂ?s lead players.

Â?Those guys were trained primarily in jazz, and Steve and I come primarily from a rock and funk background, which is where I think a lot of the chemistry comes in,Â? bass player Jayson Sites says. Â?Being five different people adds a lot of color to it. I think if we all went home and listened to the same albums, we would have a very flat sound. I think that in coming from different genres and styles, the friction that creates contributes in a very good way.Â?

To get to Â?the next locationÂ? on their musical and professional journey, however, the members of Half-Pint Jones needed to absorb the lessons they learned from the reaction they received to their first album, 2007Â?s sprawling, solos-laden Â?The Trilogy of Patches and Olaf.Â?

With all of the songs on their first album clocking in at more than 4:45 and with some going as long as 11 minutes, the band repeatedly heard from radio stations a variation on an old music business line: We donÂ?t hear a single.

Â?If you get the tongue-in-cheek name of the album, itÂ?s about trying to make most of the songs singles on the radio,Â? Krojniewski says about Â?Single File.Â? Â?What we got a lot of for the last record was that the songs were good, but they were too long for radio. Â? We set out to intentionally make this album shorter and tighter so that most of the songs could be played on the radio.Â?

By contrast to the songs on Â?The Trilogy of Patches and Olaf,Â? most of the songs on Â?Single FileÂ? come in at under four minutes, even though some of them have been staples of Half-Pint JonesÂ? live show in longer versions.

Â?It was an exercise in how to leave the basic structure, to get across the main composition,Â? Sites says. Â?When we play live, itÂ?s really great to vamp on solos and stretch things out, but at the core of it, does the composition stand up on its own?Â?

Â?We didnÂ?t ignore the songs on this album,Â? Krojniewski says. Â?We didnÂ?t allow them to fully mature as they have onstage. WeÂ?ve allowed them to be teenagers still figuring stuff out, and then when we get them onstage, we bust them into adulthood.Â?

The band approached trimming its songs, Ross, Sites and Krojniewski say, as an opportunity to learn and mature as a band.

Â?For sure, it is about us wanting us to take (the quality) to the next level, not just making it so the music can be played on radio,Â? Krojniewski says. Â?I think if you listen to Â?Trilogy of Patches and OlafÂ? and then Â?Single File,Â? right away youÂ?ll notice itÂ?s cleaner, tighter and thereÂ?s a lot of growth.Â?

In recording Â?Single File,Â? Sites says, the band embraced Frank ZappaÂ?s dictum that a Â?recording should be treated as a completely different objectÂ? from a live performance.

Â?ItÂ?s nice to use the tools of a recording studio,Â? he says, and Ross agrees with him.

Â?For example, we could add an organ part or a piano part,Â? the guitarist says. Â?We could add fuller harmonies, vocally and with our horns, just because we could play along with ourselves. There are so many possibilities. I think the next time we go into the studio, weÂ?ll utilize that more.Â?

The band, however, hasnÂ?t abandoned its improvisational base.

Â?Our live shows, weÂ?ll extend the songs and have horn solos where there maybe arenÂ?t on the CD,Â? Ross says. Â?Live shows are a different animal than a recording.Â?

And the end of Â?Single File,Â? Krojniewski says, also points to the bandÂ?s continuing adherence to improvisation, with the nine-minute-plus Â?IndulgenceÂ? and a hidden track that approaches six minutes in length.

Â?ThatÂ?s just what it was supposed to be,Â? he says. Â?Ã¦Â?IndulgenceÂ? was all about having fun in the studio, about all the hard work of making these songs tight and then having fun. It also was about letting people know that with the next record, youÂ?ll get some of both. We never want to lose the element of our live show, of being able to solo. The next record will have the tight songs and the indulgences.Â?